Candys Fashion House Chapter Eight free porn video

As I got up and headed for the shower I felt the breast forms still stuck to my chest, oh shit. Kelli would have to hang around for at least until lunchtime as I would need to get Candy to remove them. I showered and had a light breakfast, I went back upstairs and sat down at the makeup table. I loved the look Candy had developed, the pixie cut was sexy and trendy. I went over a nice light daytime makeup. I stole one of Laurens favourite dresses, a beautiful pale green chiffon dress that flared out and swished as I walked. I chose a pair of low heels which complimented the dress. Shit what the hell was I going to do? I loved the dressing up. It was just the interaction with men that scared the hell out of me. I didn't want to call Candy too early. I was in a bubbly buoyant mood so I decided I to just enjoy the moment. I headed down to the mall to do some shopping. At first I felt uncomfortable but as I scooted around from shop to shop I started to feel more comfortable. I enjoyed the fleeting glances I was getting from some sneaky men. I found some new shoes that I liked and I brought a light cotton shift dress. I was just wandering through the mall, and I was taking great pleasure in admiring my reflection in the shop windows as I walked past. It was amazing how quickly it lifted my spirits. As I was walking from shop to shop my phone went it was Lauren. "Hi Lauren what can I do for you?" "Hi baby. I just wanted to hear your voice, and I guess I wanted to say thank you for coming with us last night?" she added softly. "How are you feeling today?" "Well I am doing OK considering. What about you, how's things with your new lover, still rocking your world is she?" "Why do you have to turn every conversation into a fight, I just rang to talk. I just wanted to say I thought you looked gorgeous and sexy last night. God you looked sensational actually. Everyone was talking about you. I was so disappointed when you left early. It turned into a really great evening." "I'm glad to hear your night was a good one." "Michael could we meet for lunch or something? I need to talk to you and I can't do it over the phone. Michael please baby. I want to move back home and I want to put an end to this insufferable fighting." "What's the problem? Had a fight with your lover have you? What happens when you get over your spat with lover girl, huh what happens then? I suppose you move back with her and then we go through this all over again?" "Michael please can we just put aside the animosity? I need to see you, please meet me for lunch and we could just talk." Without thinking I replied, "Yeah OK Lauren lets meet at the little caf? in the mall." "Thank you baby, how about twelve thirty?" "Yeah OK Lauren, see you then." I had barely hung up when I realised what I had done. I was so flustered and angry I forgot I was still dressed. There's no way I could get to Candy's and be back in time, I couldn't hide these boobs so I couldn't even buy some men's clothes and find somewhere to change. I sucked in a big breath, no fuck it I did it last night, I can do it again. I found a small booth at the back of the caf? away from prying eyes. I fixed my makeup and got a couple of coffees. As Lauren walked into the caf? and she saw me sitting at the table a huge smile crossed her face. She sat down beside me. "God baby you look amazing you little sneak, that's my dress! Wow you are really getting the hang of doing your makeup. I am so proud of you. Baby I couldn't believe it when I realised it was you last night, and now today baby you look gorgeous." I smiled. "Thanks for the compliments Lauren, but you wanted to talk so let's talk." "This whole thing has gotten out of control and it's driving me crazy." "I agree with you actually it is crazy. Then again I am not the one slepping with someone else am I?" She groaned. "Baby why do you have to straight away turn this into a fight. I wanted us to just talk." "OK then talk to me, can you start by telling me why you cheated on me? Tell me why you lied to me and tell me who the miserable fucker is that you are sleeping with?" We sat there for ages not talking just staring across the table at each other, regardless of the fact the caf? was full, it felt like the room was shrouded in a dark murky silence. Lauren tried to change the subject. "Michael I have missed you so much and I have missed Kelli as well, I can't get over how brave you have been." "Pity I wasn't a better lover so I could have kept you though hey Lauren?" "Oh for god's sake Michael, you are a wonderful lover, you are passionate and generous. I love making love with you." "Really I'm a good lover am I? Well if I'm so good why did you go looking for someone else?" "Christ it wasn't like that! I never went looking for anything, it just happened. I didn't plan it and I didn't want to hurt you." "OK then Lauren tell me how long has it been going on?" She looked at the table. "A few weeks, just since we separated." "Bullshit that's a bloody lie and you know it. Christ even now you still can't be honest with me." She couldn't look at me. "Michael why does it even matter, can't we just leave it?" "It matters a lot actually, you just lied to me. Don't you understand how much that hurts? I am not an idiot and I don't like to be treated like one. This has been going on for months Lauren. I want you to be honest with me. At least respect me enough for that." She dropped her head into her hands. "Baby please is that really important? It happened OK but it's in the past." "Lauren I want you to be honest with me. I thought you loved and trusted me. I thought we could tell each other anything." "OK Michael have it your way, it started about eight months ago OK, she burst out crying are you happy now you bastard." "No Lauren I'm not happy. So all the nights you didn't come home, the night you came home without your panties. All those nights you left me sitting at home wondering and worrying about you, you were actually with someone else? Making love with someone else, kissing someone else." Her body was trembling as she cried. "Yes OK Michael the answer is yes." "OK now the big question, who is it?" She sobbed harder and harder. "Michael please understand, I didn't want to hurt you, I never wanted to hurt you." Silence, there was just that deep absorbing dark silence. It seemed to last for hours. She reached across the table, her hands gripping mine, her grip was so tight. "it is Alecia." "Yeah I figured as much, I saw her in your office and I just knew it. OK Lauren so is it love?" "I don't know baby, yes I have feelings for her, I always have." "So you are a lesbian then?" "No please don't say it like that, I am not a lesbian, I love being with you, I love making love with you." "So is that why you have been trying so hard to get me to dress up, you feel more comfortable with me dressed as a woman, does it somehow make you feel more normal?" "God no baby, I love Michael and I love Kelli. I can't explain it I have always felt comfortable around you, even when I was really questioning my sexuality. Mikey I always knew there was something inside you. It is what attracted me to you. You weren't pushy and arrogant, you were easy to talk to and always seemed to understand me. You have always had this really feminine side. God look in a mirror you look fucking sexy as hell. But the answer is I met and fell in love with Michael, and I am still in love with Michael." A penny dropped. "Oh my god when I met you at school you were in a relationship with her weren't you? Bloody hell now I know, that is why she hated me so much isn't it. She hated me because I broke up your relationship." She jumped up and came around hugging me. People were staring at us but Lauren just ignored them all. "Baby it's not your fault. I mean I can't believe you didn't know. It seemed everybody else knew, everybody was talking about it. My relationship with Alecia was already over when we met. I just didn't have the guts to tell her. She had become so overpowering and controlling it was a mess. Then you came along, and you were so loving and tender so caring and I felt your love. From the very first time we met you made me so happy. I did the wrong thing, I stayed with Alecia while you and I were together, I know I should have told her and broken up with her first, but I didn't have the guts so I kept trying to see both of you and I ended up breaking her heart." She just held on tight. "I am not proud of myself Michael, it was a terrible thing to do." Again silence, as I scanned the room lots of people were staring at us and there were a few snickers. "Mikey Alecia came back into my life when she took the CEO's position with the Water Corp. We were thrown back together by the strangest circumstances, but it was amazing she has completely changed now she is loving and giving. I'm sorry this must be hard for you to hear. At first I went out to dinner with her a few times and we went to a couple of shows, nothing sexual, it was just work and it was good fun." Her hand gripped me tighter, squeezing the blood from my fingers. "I know I should have stopped it then but it all seemed so much fun, but then one night when you and I were arguing and Alecia and I were talking and I ended up staying with her." Her sobs intensified and her body was shaking wracked by trembling convulsions. "I have fucked everything up, I hurt you just as I hurt Alecia. I have been so overcome by guilt. I am not trying to make excuses baby but it's why I have been so hard to live with, the guilt was killing me. Sometimes I acted like a real bitch. For that I am sorry." "OK Lauren, thanks for at least finally being honest with me. So what happens now?" "I want to move back home, I don't want a divorce. I know I have been completely selfish and self-centred yes and a bitch. But the reality is I need you in my life I feel lost without you." "OK Lauren you haven't answered my question what happens now? If you want to move back home and give it another go, try to repair our marriage then what are you going to do about Alecia? I refuse to live with anymore cheating or lies." "Baby is it possible that if I moved back home that I could still see Alecia?" "What! Don't be ridiculous. You expect me to just sit at home while you carry on with her?" "Would that be so bad baby? I can still be committed to us and see Alecia as well." "Don't be stupid Lauren, how can you be committed to a relationship with me when you are seeing her. No Lauren it's time to choose. You have played the both of us for too long. It's either me or her. I bet if she was here she would be saying the same thing." Michael can we just take a look outside the box that you have put us in? What if I suggested an alternative? Baby this might sound a bit whacky, but please keep an open mind. What about if we all lived together? " I laughed. "Bloody hell, wake up you are dreaming. God I can't believe you even suggested that. I bet you haven't talked to Alecia about it either have you?" Her shoulders sagged. "I should have expected that response from you Michael. You are so narrow minded." I laughed. "Narrow minded! Fucking hell look at me I am wearing a fucking dress. Narrow minded my ass." "For fuck sake the world isn't black and white. There are other options, please don't make me choose." "I'm sorry Lauren, I love you and I want you with me. For that to work it has to be just you and me!" "Michael please I won't choose between you and Alecia. It's not fair." "Yeah well I suppose that's lesson number one. Life isn't fair." "Fuck you Michael, but just so you know you are the one who is missing out." "I Guess Alecia will be happy then wont she," I spat back. She stood up and started to walk away. "Fuck you Michael, you turn everything into a fight. Open your mind!" I was trying to remain calm, I stood up myself. "Look at this Lauren," I held my arms out. "Look at this and tell me I am not open minded!" The crowd were all staring at me now, and I suddenly felt exposed and stupid. I cringed inwardly as I started to walk out. Lauren spat back angrily. "There's more to being open minded than just putting on a dress Michael." As I was walking towards my car I gave Candy a call, I was going to need to get rid of these damn breasts. Candy wanted to hear all about the girl's night anyway so she agreed to meet me at the salon. Once I arrived we sat together and she cracked open a bottle of wine and she wanted to hear all the gory details. Once I recounted the story she was a bit sad, she refilled our glasses and held my hand she was genuinely upset. She held me in a tight embrace. "I am sorry sweetie I had hoped for a better outcome for you, but never mind. What I can say is the first time is the hardest." I looked at her quizzically. "How do you know that?" She smiled. "Sweetie I found that out for myself." Now I was confused. She grinned as she refilled the glasses. "Sweetie the reason I am able to empathise with you is I went through something similar my first time." "Bullshit no way!" I burst out. She nodded her head. "Yes honey I am transgender as well and have been for a long time. The difference between you and me is I am also gay. I love men, I would have loved to have been in your shoes last night. Sweetie you will have to get used to it. You are so damn sexy men are going to be all over you." "Not any more Candy. Last night proved to me that I can't do it. I freaked out it was just too scary, and I wasn't attracted to the guys at all. They were groping and grabbing me all over. I was just scared that somebody would figure it out." "Sweetie don't let the first time scare you and rush into any quick knee jerk reactions. I think you should take a couple of days to think about what happened. I can see that you are still interested in dressing. Tell me what you did today." I explained my trip to the mall and the shopping. She smiled. "So why did you buy new shoes if you don't want to dress again?" She had me, I couldn't explain it. She smiled warmly. "Honey just take some time to think and don't rush your decision, give it time." We had another couple of drinks. "Candy there's another reason for me calling around to see you. I want to talk about your fashion designs. Last night was a bit of a bust but what I can tell you is that absolutely everyone loved my dress. There were lots of enquiries about where they could get one and who the label was. I think you need to do design full time." She looked at me with a sort of defeated look in her eyes. "Kelli I would love to but I just can't afford it. I think I would need about $50,000 to $60,000 to even make a start." I reached out and held her hand. "Candy I want to help. I have money saved and I think I can get another couple of investors interested. If I do some research and can get a meeting organised would you be interested?" She jumped out of her chair so fast it tipped over backwards. "Oh my god would I? I would love it. But Kelli I don't want you to put up the money if you aren't sure? I don't want to be the reason you become bankrupt!" I laughed. "Give me a couple of days and I will come up with a business plan." We talked about the sewing and production, how many dresses one person could make in a day, and still maintain high standards. We talked about fabric costs and suppliers. She gave me contact numbers and details for the businesses she used for supply. In the end she gave me enough info to start on a business plan. As I was about to leave Candy grabbed me in a tight bear hug and kissed me. "Thank you for believing in me. I can't explain how good it feels just to talk to someone who believes, and it feels so empowering to know you think I can do it!" I mumbled softly. "It is me who needs to be thankful for all your help last night. I went straight home my mind going a mile a minute as I thought about a business plan and how to make it work. Suddenly I was excited. For the first time since leaving University I had to think about how a business plan would look. What were the obstacles, I had to dream up a business model. How could we make this thing work? Based on what Candy had said we would need at least five seamstresses, six really because one would always be off sick or with kids at school. We would need a cutting assistant and a general assistant. I factored in a technician, probably part time or on call, maybe we could contract a local contractor to be on call? We would also need a media or marketing manager, probably a receptionist / assistant. I needed to find out if Candy owned her business? Could we hire some stylists to cover for her and use that as an income stream to offset some costs? First and foremost we would need a new factory space, with off-street parking and a warehouse with storage and vehicle access, it would need to be big enough to have an onsite fashion outlet. Somewhere we could sell direct while we waited for customers to get on board. We would need workstations, sewing machines, lighting, computers and office space. I spent the next four hours scrolling through the internet getting prices and requesting quotes. I worked out a projected budget based on costs I was able to get. From there I determined the sales targets we would need to reach to break even. It didn't take me long to figure out why Candy had been turned down by the banks. Her original budget was way off. We were going to need at least $250,000 to $300,000 just as a start-up and we would need to be making sales almost immediately to keep the business afloat. So I wasn't going to be able to do this alone, we were going to need some investors. I could or should talk to Lauren, business development is her thing. She would probably have an idea of who to talk to! Unfortunately our current situation wasn't going to make for a good working relationship, especially with the divorce pending. The only other person I could think of was Karla, she may know someone who could help. The next day at work was hell. The guys gave me shit about my girly haircut and ear rings, by lunchtime I had enough. I made some time to call Karla and I asked if she would be able to help? I quickly went over the business plan, she was taken aback at first but seemed impressed. She wanted to see it in person so I agreed to go to her office that night after work. The day turned out to be shit, the guys continued to give me heaps about the hairstyle and the earrings, Rico who is the macho ringleader prick started calling me tranny. He was pissing me off. I couldn't wait for the day to end. There was time for a quick shower before my meeting with Karla. I had printed out the spreadsheets at lunchtime so I was ready to go. Karla greeted me with a huge hug and kiss, but she giggled as well. "Michael you amaze me honey. At my party you were this beautiful vibrant sexy woman, and yet you turn up here to a business meeting looking like nobody owns you." I apologised as I explained I had rushed over from work. All Karla wanted to talk about was how stunned she was when I rocked up to her party and how pretty I looked. We chatted about the party and it took a while before I could get her to focus on the reason for my visit. I ran Karla through my proposal, I showed her some of the designs and concepts that Candy had prepared, and then I started to go over the financials I had produced a myriad of spreadsheets with profit and loss predictions, I showed her the warehouse I had found that we could turn into a factory. I was starting to get excited and got a bit carried away and was waving my arms around and babbling like an idiot, but when I looked over at her I noticed she was reclining back in her chair biting on her pencil. She was focused on the screen. She was impressed, I could see her mind working. She smiled. "I have to say it's nice to see you so excited by something Michael. I will be honest. I am interested and I want to help, but first I have a couple of questions. 1) How did you meet Candy and when did you see her designs? "OK Karla this is all going to sound a bit weird." She patted my hand. "It's OK honey I'm not judging." "OK well after you rang me and invited me to your party I decided after a lot of deliberating that I wanted to go. The only way I could do it was if I got some professional help. So I searched the internet and found a local stylist who offered to help. It turned out to be Candy and it is her designs. The dress you liked so much was one of Candy's designs." "OK Michael I understand. So number two. Why are you talking to me and not Lauren?" "Karla you know how it is between Lauren and me at the moment. She won't leave Alecia she wants to come home and live with me but still see Alecia. I have told her that's not an option for me. I told her she needs to choose. It would be nice if she chose me but unfortunately her actions lately have proven to me she thinks more of Alecia than she does of me." Karla hugged me. "I know honey she told me about it. I did try to tell her you wouldn't wear it." I thanked her for her support. "OK give me a couple of days and I will try to organise some interested parties. This isn't my specialist field Michael so I may need some time. I do meet people occasionally who want some investment options." I couldn't wait to tell Candy, I called her as soon as I got home and gave her the good news. She was over the moon, I could hear the excitement in her voice. "Oh my god Kelli that's awesome, what do I have to do?" I tried to calm her down. "At this stage Candy there's nothing for you to do. Just wait and see. I am not making any promises Candy please don't get to excited yet, this is not a guarantee." The week was drifting by and I hadn't heard from Karla, so I started to fret and worry, maybe this wasn't a good idea, maybe I had been projecting my enthusiasm because of my affection for Candy, which was weird I mean we had only just met, but I felt so comfortable around her! I had just about given up hope. I was dragged out of my melancholy that night when Karla rang. "OK Michael I have one definitely interested party and a couple of maybes but there is one problem. They want to see the designs for real. Is there any chance you guys could put together a small showing?" I got excited. "Yeah no problem we can do that." My mind was spinning at a million miles an hour already planning what we would need. "When do you want to meet?" "What about tomorrow night about seven? Would that OK? Not too short a notice is it?" I freaked out. "Nope, no problem we will be ready." I gave her the address and added. "Thanks Karla you are the best, love you!" I rang Candy immediately and gave her the good news. She was excited and scared all at the same time. "Shit how the hell are we going to do this, can you help me tomorrow?" I exclaimed. "Yeah no problem I will be there at eight in the morning!" I was up most of the night working on projections and costings. By one AM I had redone all of the spreadsheets. I added graphs , charts and all of the quotes I had received. I arrived at Candy's at seven and had to wait for her to turn up. She rocked up and I could see the excitement in her eyes, she rushed up and hugged me. "Sweetie I cant thank you enough for this." She looked me up and down and I thought she was going to cry. "Kelli what the hell have you done to yourself?" "I told you I work construction I had to go back to being myself, jeez as it is I have had tons of shit from a couple of the guys." She babbled, "Honey I am going to need Kelli today. I want you to model the clothes for me!" I freaked out and laughed. "Fuck off Candy. I am no model." "Kelli you have to I can't do this on my own, sweetie I need to do the introductions and talk to them as they see the designs if we are to have any chance at all I want to be talking to them as they see them! Please Kelli don't let me down. Kelli you slayed them at Karla's party you said so yourself. Everybody loved the dress that you were wearing. Sweetie the dress is nice but it was you that sold it." We argued back and forth but eventually she cried. "Kelli we are wasting time. No more argument, you are doing it." She turned and strode away leaving no room for argument. Candy wanted to go the whole hog, she wanted it to seem like a mini fashion show. So I spent the morning running around hiring a sound system, lights and an overhead projector and screen. I set up a short runway with curtains to seal of the changing areas, I set up the sound system and rigged up the lights. Candy was furiously going through her designs picking out her favourites that would work as a collection. At lunchtime we sat down together and went over how it would work. Candy was so excited she wanted me to go back to the look she had developed for Karla's party. She thought that look was modern and trendy and suited me perfectly. So she sat me down and started to style my hair. As the dye was taking she got me to try on a couple of the outfits so she could make the necessary adjustments. Once she had the measurements it left me free to set up Candy's storage area as a meeting room and hook up my computer and projector. Once it was done she went to work on my makeup she trimmed my hair trying to make it feminine but I had fucked it up so much there was no saving it. She hunted through her collection and came out with a bright red wig, the hair was long and she styled with a long fringe which she styled to drape down and cover over my left eye. Then she spent an age on my eyes and my overall look. The time was racing by and we were running out of time. I realised that the one thing we hadn't considered was catering, as she worked on my makeup I was on the phone ringing around lots of local caterers until I found someone who could do the short notice but it was going to cost! As we did the final preparations Candy ran me through how to walk and she spent lots of time showing me how a model does the turn at the end of the runway, the look over the shoulder the hair flick. She had me in fits of laughter as she showed me, doing demonstration after demonstration, until finally I could do a reasonable walk and turn. I put the champagne in ice and set the glasses. Candy took me out the back and got me ready in the first outfit. OK Candy instructed me that she would look after all the front of house stuff, she would look after the arrival and introductions. We had set the seats alongside the runway not knowing exactly how many people were going to turn up. I didn't know who Karla had organised and that made me nervous. I fluffed up my hair and prepared myself. I heard talking out the front so I took a peek through the curtains, to say I was shocked was an understatement. There was Karla and she had Lauren by her side. What the fuck, she had sold me down the river. I was fucked. Candy came back to see if I was OK, she could see I was freaked out. "Relax sweetie, deep breaths you have got this. Forget who is out there, remember what I said don't look them in the eye, look straight above them or stare right through them as if they don't even exist. Honey you are better than them remember that. I need you honey I need you to be the best you have ever been." As Candy was talking I was hyperventilating and my anger was getting the better of me. Candy held my hand. "Come on baby you can do this." "Candy that's my fucking wife out there with Karla. I didn't know that's who Karla was bringing, it's just supposed to be some investor?" I was that angry I could barely breathe. "Candy, Karla did this to set me up. She did this just so they can laugh at me!" Candy flopped back in the chair and I could see she was about to cry. I could see all of the excitement and joy flowing out of her. Half an hour ago she had been vibrant animated and excited now she was a hollow shell, I hugged her. "Hey it's going to be OK." "No honey it's not, personally I think you are being paranoid, but I understand if you don't want to do it. It's OK I don't blame you, it's not your fault. We will just cancel I should have known it was too good to be true! I have to say I think you are wrong though, it might be a set up but they aren't here to laugh at you. Even if they were they wouldn't be laughing for long. You are beautiful. As she got up to walk out I grabbed her arm. I swallowed hard and took a deep breath, I couldn't let her down. Maybe just maybe Lauren was interested in investing, or maybe knew some people who would? I hugged her tight. "Candy get your ass out the front, and get ready we are fucking doing it. She is not going to ruin this for you. I will do it." Candy gasped. "No it wouldn't be fair to you." "Fuck that we are doing it, I'm going to rub there snotty noses in it." Candy jumped up. "Are you sure sweetie? I do understand honestly. If you want to cancel its fine." "No fuck her I will fucking show them. Fuck them all. All we want is there fucking money." Candy went back out front and I could hear her as she did the introductions for the first dress. She pumped up the music and it was time to go. I swept open the curtain and walked, no I strutted down the runway I got to the end and did the spin, lean back and hair flick. I strutted back doing a final turn as I walked through the curtains. Candy came back and patted me on the back. "Beautiful baby you have them in the palm of your hand." The next dress was a long flowing number with a split up one leg that went all the way up to my hip. The top was sleeveless and very low cut. I did the walk again and repeated the turn, although this time I did a double turn before the hair flick thing. I was trying to ignore that it was Lauren, It appeared that she hadn't recognised me, but this time I heard her shriek. "Oh my god Karla its Michael, oh my god, Karla its Michael." This time out the back Candy was cuddling me and holding me tight. "Relax she kept saying over and over. Show them how good you can be, rub their noses in it!" "Yeah OK", I muttered but I wasn't feeling it. For the next walk I tried to ignore them but it was impossible, still I managed to hold it together although I could hear the yelling and clapping. As loud as the music was I could hear Lauren screaming at the top of her voice. I saw the look on both their faces and it gave me a huge confidence boost, and I started to get into it. That was the way the rest of the show went. Finally it was over and the lights went on. Candy came and dragged me out onto the runway and made me do a bow. She took centre stage as we huddled together. "Sweetie I need to hand the rest over to you. Do you think you will be OK?" "Yeah Candy I have got this bit." She invited Karla and Lauren through to the makeshift meeting room, announcing that I was going to run through the proposal. Before we could move into the meeting room Lauren rushed over and threw her arms around my shoulders and kissed me. "Oh my god Kelli you look gorgeous, oh I am so jealous right now, you are fucking beautiful. She giggled. "Wow you look so different, and so sexy." "Thanks Lauren." As we hugged Karla came over and hugged me. "Jesus Kelli you look amazing, stunning really." Again I thanked her for the compliments adding. "We need to go through." I was trying to sound professional, but Lauren's compliments got my pulse racing, and seeing her right there if front of me it was all I could do to not grab her hold her tight and kiss her. Once everyone was seated I stood up and gave them all a briefing on the proposal. If Lauren was actually interested I needed her to see Candy when she is excited so I got her to start talking about her designs. She didn't let me down, once she starts talking about her designs she becomes a different person. She becomes very animated her arms wave and she really gets into it. Tonight was no exception, maybe there was extra adrenalin but she was so effusive and excited, as I looked at Karla and Lauren I could see they were excited as well. I tried to keep the enthusiasm going and I think Candy was infectious because I never get this excited, but here I was getting carried away myself. I ran the overheads expressing the costings and possible income streams. I had found a local warehouse that was perfect for the factory, I included the details from the realtors, and I showed the quotes from local contractors. There were photographs and some sketches that I had done of the possible layout of the warehouse. I had photographed many of Candy's other designs and ran them as an overhead slide show in the background. There was lots of head nodding from everyone, they all seemed impressed. I thought we needed to clear the air and find out if Lauren was interested. So I opened up the discussion. As spoke I ran an accusatory eye at Karla who looked a little guilty. "Lauren I was shocked to see you here tonight I am assuming that Karla talked to you because you have shown some interest in helping us find some investors? So if that's the case is any of what we have just shown you here today of any interest?" Karla responded before Lauren could talk. "I am sorry I didn't tell you beforehand Michael, but Lauren is my best friend and as you know she is a genius when it comes to business partnerships. I didn't tell her who was involved, I didn't want to colour either of your visions with your personal problems. I wanted you both to be open minded about the possibilities." Lauren jumped in and she hugged Karla. "Honey its fine I'm glad you brought me along. God Michael I am blown away. I have never in my life seen you so excited about anything. Tonight you have shown me the real you. This business plan is fucking awesome it really is. It takes me back to university when we worked on that project together. It was only your brilliance that got me through that project. Tonight I have seen what you are capable of. Oh my god, and to top it all off you look absolutely sensational. I can't explain how jealous I am right now. I have to say that this is a side of you I have never seen. You were incredible walking down that runway. A month ago I couldn't get you to go to the shops with me!" She rushed around and hugged Candy. "Candy I love your designs I can see the same enthusiasm in you, the passion you showed here tonight, wow I am stunned. The pair of you are so dynamic, I don't know how anyone could say no. Yes Michael to answer your question. I am interested in fact fuck finding investors I want in myself. When Karla first ran this by me I was thinking of who I could approach, I did ring around a couple of people I know but I don't care if we can't get anyone else involved I want to do it......." "We can re-mortgage the house, we can raise the capital ourselves!" I was stunned by her desire to be involved. Karla interjected. "Hang on a minute, you can't leave me out, I want in as well, I didn't come here tonight just to hold Laurens hand. What I have seen here tonight is mind-blowing. The drive and enthusiasm I have seen from you Candy but especially you Michael, yes I want in as well." Lauren and Karla hugged and they were grinning and smiling at each other. I was a little stunned by their reactions. "OK guys you must have questions so maybe we should hear them now?" Karla started she wanted to know who was going to oversee the construction of the warehouse conversion? I explained that it was going to be me, I would supervise and work with the contractors. I had already spoken to them and knew the people involved. I would fit it in between my day job. Lauren didn't look convinced, she was shaking her head. "Baby I have to say that does concern me. How the hell are you going to do both?" I reassured her I could drive the project. It would just mean early starts. I explained in the early phase Candy still had a business to run. She wouldn't have the time and I saw it as my baby. I wanted to drive it and leave Candy free to focus on designs and managing the actual sewing and garment manufacture. I could manage the conversion and then maybe we would need somebody with more experience and industry savvy to take over after that. Candy jumped in forcefully. "Hell no Kelli that's not right, I think you are the perfect person for this. Look at what you have achieved so far. Karla surprised me, agreeing with Candy. "Kelli you have proven you are capable of putting together a great business plan, this is better than a lot that pass across my desk. People pay a lot of money to get business plans drawn up and I have to say this is a damn good one. You are selling yourself short. I would personally like to see you follow through with this. You are capable, sweetheart you just need to have faith in your own abilities, this business plan is proof that you understand business. This is proof to me that you are the right person for the job." Lauren piped up. "If you gave up your day job you could do this fulltime. We don't need that income, we can do this." I tried to diffuse that line of conversation. "OK guys it seems we are all interested let's cut to the chase and talk money. As you can see from the projections we need an estimated $300,000 for the start-up, conversion and first six months. I have $50,000 that I am prepared to put in." The look on Laurens face was shock, it was priceless, I could see her mind working, where the hell is he getting the money? As she was thinking she looked across at me. "OK I could put up $30,000. Karla then added, "Well I have $50,000 sitting around not doing much." "OK so we are a little short of projected finance requirements..." Before I could say anything else Lauren piped up. "Give me a couple of days to a week, now that I have seen what this is all about I am sure I can find some other investors. If I can't we can refinance the house or something?? Let's not let the shortfall get in the way. Let's get the whole thing moving." Shit she was not going to be stopped! So we were in agreement. Except I had what I thought might be a roadblock. "OK guys you will have noticed that Candy isn't going to input any money into this venture, but even so I want to see her maintain a fifty percent stake in the company so that she retains control." Karla was shaking her head. "Wow Michael that's a big ask. I am sorry but I can't accept that. I know that the designs are Candy's and that's what this is all about but if we are going to put in money then we need to have the shares we hold reflect the money we bring to the table." Lauren had a really concerned look on her face as well, she looked at Karla. "I'm sorry but I sort of agree with Karla." I nodded my head. "OK I understand your position, and I know what I am suggesting is unusual but this is Candy's whole life. These designs didn't happen overnight, she has been working on them forever and without that we wouldn't be sitting here tonight." Candy was tugging on my arm. "Kelli please I don't care about this, please just let it go." I looked at her sternly. "No it's important that this is yours. I think we have to support the creativity and that has to be recognised?" Lauren and Karla were still shaking their heads. "No it can't work. You can't ask or expect us to invest our money in something and then give the controlling interest to someone who is not investing anything." I could see their point, they wanted to protect their investments. The good news was that I could see by their interest that this business model might not be as hard as I thought to sell to others. I stood up. "OK guys thanks for your time tonight. It looks like we will need to look further afield for other more interested investors. I am sorry we wasted your time tonight. Thanks for coming along." I saw the look of total fear in Candy's face she could see her dreams vanishing before her eyes. As I turned away Karla cried out excitedly. "Now hold on a minute, I didn't mean we couldn't keep talking about this. Don't be so damn impetuous. What I am trying to say is we need to evaluate the value of the designs and allocate the shares accordingly." Lauren jumped on Karla's attempt to smooth things over. "Michael I still want to invest, I have seen the designs and I am sold. I just think that if we invest our money we get a stake in the company that reflects our investment." "OK then how do we evaluate the value of the designs?? Personally I think the designs are the main thing here. If the designs are bad then we are wasting our time. If it helps I will give my money to Candy and you can cut my holding in the company." Candy jumped up. "Like hell, no way am I even doing this without you." Karla spoke up. "Look perhaps we won't be able to finalise this tonight. Can I suggest we go home and sleep on this tonight?" There was much head nodding and we agreed to sleep on it and meet again Friday night. Karla suggested that we use her offices. She then suggested we all go out for a drink and just chat a little more. Everyone agreed and Candy suggested a little bar just up the road. As we were all walking out Lauren grabbed me. "Michael could we please talk...." She kissed me. "Baby I can't believe all this, you look spectacular. Baby have you been thinking about us and what we talked about?" "Yes of course I have, I haven't been able to think about anything else. God I want you back, I want our life the way it used to be." "We could do it baby we could, I want to come home." I was getting excited, maybe she was coming back? "Baby it's all I want. I need you back in my life. If you are ready to come home you will make me the happiest man on the planet." As I thought about it I added. "But what about Alecia?" She smirked. "Baby I could move back home and we could worry about the rest later. I just want to come home. Michael I am sure that once we get back together and actually talk, we could all work together and make this work." I pushed her away. "Forget it, you actually had me going for a minute. I thought you really wanted to come back to me." She tugged on my arm. "Come on baby let's go and get that drink!" As we walked through to Candy and Karla I mumbled. "You will all have to wait for a few moments while I go and change." Candy heard the last part of the conversation and called out. "Whoa there sweetie, I put way to much work into Kelli for you to just throw her away. Let's keep Kelli for another hour or so." Lauren chimed in. "God yes, let's keep Kelli. After all she is the star of the show!" Karla threw her hat in the ring. "Kelli please stay for the drinks, I would like to get to know you a little better." There was no escaping it. I was in my car and Candy came with me, she was over the moon, she leaned over and kissed me. We all rocked up at this little bar, there was a reasonable crowd but it wasn't over the top. We got a booth in the corner and Candy headed for the bar to get a round of drinks. As I sat down Lauren came and sat beside me and Karla the other side. Karla started chatting. "You little sneak I didn't recognise you at first. I have to say I preferred the blonde look better. This is nice but the blonde was better it really suited you." I felt my cheeks burning as I blushed bright red but thanked her for the compliment. I could see the curiosity on her face. "Kelli sorry to be nosy but on a personal note, what are you going to do? Is Kelli around permanently or is this just casual what are you doing." Before I could answer Lauren jumped in. "I love this look baby you are gorgeous." I ignored Laurens response and addressed Karla. "Actually I only dressed today because Candy needed a model, tomorrow Michael returns." She shrugged. "That's a shame I really think this is a great look for you. You know you don't have to be afraid of people. My party is proof that nobody would guess." Candy had returned with drinks, she asked what we were talking about!! Karla laughed. "We are trying to talk Michael into keeping Kelli." Candy looked firmly at me. "Don't worry about that, Kelli is here to stay. I didn't spend all that time for her to just disappear." She looked directly at me. "Kelli don't you go getting any ideas honey you aren't going anywhere!" I smiled. "We will see." Lauren sneered, "Don't be an ass, look in a mirror somewhere, why wouldn't you want to keep this!" "Well my job is one reason." "For god's sake don't worry about that horrible bloody job, just resign, we don't need the money. I make enough for us!" Candy offered her thoughts. "Kelli if everyone is keen to go ahead with this as a going concern, why couldn't you just manage that!" I shook my head. "I don't think I am the right person for that. It needs to be someone with some industry savvy. I don't know a damned thing about fashion." Karla was soothing and calm. "I don't think you need to be a fashionista, Candy has that angle covered you have shown you have some business acumen. That will be enough to get things started and I think you will learn as we go. I really think you should look at doing this full time, I really do." Lauren hissed, "Yes just give up that horrible job. Then Kelli can be around permanently." I looked at her with my anger starting to boil. "Lauren you and I are in the middle of getting divorced, let's not forget that." The look on her face was as if I had slapped her, her look was pure disbelief, and she looked devastated. I could see she was about to cry. Karla looked horrified. "Why the hell did you say that." Candy reached over and punched me on the arm. "Kelli this is a business meeting keep your private shit for home, and if I hear you say mean things like that again I will kick your ass myself." Even she reached over and gave Lauren a conciliatory hug. Well I had been put in my place. I apologised to Lauren. "I'm sorry, but it was you guys who brought up my personal shit not me OK." The conversation slowly picked up and we talked about all the different aspects of how the business could work. As the night progressed a group of younger guys came in and as they stood together at the bar their eyes never left us. A couple of them finally built up the courage to come over and they asked Karla and Lauren to dance. Then one of the others came over and dragged Candy up for a dance. As I sat there I pulled out my laptop and started to capture some of what we had talked about. I was idly writing some notes as I watched them dancing. I was so focused on my own little world that I didn't see a guy who had come up beside me, he leaned in close and asked if I wanted to dance? I shook my head, he then asked if he could buy me a drink? Again I shook my head. "No thanks I have just got one. He hung around for a minute or so trying to figure out what to do. Eventually he took the hint and walked away with his tail between his legs. When Lauren came back she teased me about missing out. I laughed. "Depends on your point of view I suppose." She shook her head. "That guy just wanted to dance with you, why did you turn him down?" "Because I didn't want to dance is that OK?" She didn't say anything but I could see a disappointed look on her face. The others returned to the table and we started talking and planning. "Ok guys I am going home I have to get up at six, I am going to leave you to it." Lauren came over and grabbed my arm. "No please you don't have to go yet, it's still early." As I was standing there with her clinging on refusing to let me go one of the guys who had been dancing with the girls snuck up behind me and grabbed me around the waist spun me around and tried to drag me off to the dance floor. I had to slap his hands away, as I did he looked at me with a sort of stunned look on his face. "I just wanted a dance babe" he slurred. "Yeah well I don't, so piss off." He turned and grabbed Lauren and dragged her away. Karla, who had been watching intently sniggered. "Honey you are going to have to get used to that. Looking as hot as you do guys are going to be climbing all over you." I just shook my head and said good night. Candy said she was going to stay, we kissed and hugged, Karla got up and came over for a hug and kiss as well. I walked off to the car and I had just got in when Lauren came running over and tapped on the window, she leaned in and kissed me, not a friendly kiss like the others, this was a deep passionate kiss. "Please baby can we just go home together?" "Lauren I have told you time and time again, the answer will always be yes. I want you back Lauren but not until you are prepared to recommit to our marriage. That's all I want." Her head dropped. "Please can't we talk about all the other stuff later, let's just go home and reconnect?" I sneered. "what will Alecia say when you tell her where you are?" She sighed. "I don't know, I will ring her and try to explain." "No that won't work. Its Alecia or me you choose. You're the one who created this fuck up." "Fuck why are you being such a hard ass, I am offering to go home with you here." I was just sitting there with a blank look on my face, and realisation was visible on her face. Tears were forming in the corner of her eyes. She screamed at the top of her voice. "Go on then fuck off, run away and hide at home. I was backing out as she screamed yeah you fucking sissy chicken shit run away home and have a wank while you dream about Alecia and Me. Yeah suck on that one sissy chickenshit!